This application generally relates to trash receptacles, and is specifically concerned with a liner concealing and securing trash receptacle.
Trash receptacles lined with plastic-bag type liners are not only well known in the prior art, but are in use in practically every home and office in the United States. The use of such liners in trash receptacles not only insulates the interior walls of the receptacle from liquids and sticky substances (which would necessitate frequent cleaning of the receptacles), but further provides a convenient way to empty the trash from such receptacles. To accommodate the wide variety of sizes and shapes of home, office, and commercial trash receptacles, plastic liners of all different sizes are presently available. Such liners are typically formed from thin, water impermeable plastic sheet material that has been formed into a tube having a closed end and an open end. In use, the open end of the liner is spread apart to allow air to enter its interior, whereupon it is placed into the interior of a trash receptacle. The top portion of the liner is then folded over the upper edge of the trash receptacle. In many instances, the diameter of the plastic liner is chosen to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the top of the trash receptacle so that the user must apply some amount of tension to the open end of the liner in order to fold a portion of the open end over the top portion of the receptacle. The tension thus generated by the upper portion of the liner advantageously helps to secure it in position around the open end of the receptacle.
While the folding over of the liner over the open end of the receptacle provides an easy, convenient, and inexpensive way to position the liner within the receptacle, the applicant has observed two major shortcomings associated with the resulting lined receptacles. First, if the diameter of the open end of the liner is the same size or larger than the outer diameter of the upper end of the receptacle, the folding over of the top end of the liner may not adequately secure it to the trash receptacle since there is no tension between the folded-over portion of the bag and the receptacle. Accordingly, as the receptacle is filled with trash, the upper end of the liner may easily be pulled away from its folded-over position. Once this happens, liquid or gummy substances thrown into the receptacle can become lodged between the outer surface of the liner and the inner walls of the receptacle, thereby necessitating the cleaning of the receptacle. Secondly, the folded-over portion of such plastic liners is unsightly, even when they are formed from translucent or transparent plastic materials. Thus much of the aesthetic effort spent by the designers and manufacturers of trash receptacles is negated by the broad fringe of ugly plastic material that overhangs the upper ends of these receptacles when they are lined with plastic trash bags.
Clearly, what is needed is a trash receptacle which is capable of positively securing and concealing a plastic bag-type liner disposed within its interior. Ideally, such a receptacle would make not only the liner itself, but also the trash disposed within it as unobtrusive as possible. Finally, such a receptacle should be simple to manufacture, compatible with the use of plastic liners of broadly varying dimensions, and aesthetically attractive.